Sometimes you just can't beat experience.
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Oxley Vale Attunga showed the value of that on Saturday as they twice fought back from two goals down to snatch a one goal win over Armidale City Westside.
Trailing 2-nil after 20 minutes and then 3-1 early in the second half, the Mushies scored three goals in 15 minutes to snag the points 4-3.
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Mitchell O'Keefe slotted home the match winner with around two minutes of regular time remaining, finishing off some great work from Lachlan Browne, who after being pushed up to striker by Mushies coach Tim Coates in the 63rd minute "created all kinds of havoc".
"He created the space and the room for Mitchell O'Keefe to do what Mitchell O'Keefe does," Coates said.
"It was a good goal.
"He took it well."
After kick-starting the Mushies' late surge in the 77th minute with his second goal for the game, Brendan Fergie had only a few minutes earlier tied up the game at 3-all.
Despite the lateness of their run, Coates wasn't ever really too concerned. They were creating the opportunities, it was just a matter of finishing them.
"They (Armidale City) played well," he said.
"[But] They got in front and they probably got excited."
"You've got to close games out. I guess that's what some of our older heads know how to do."
Coates said early they were just "flat".
"We were doing lots of things but we weren't doing the right things," he said.
The two goals, which came within a couple of minutes of each other, in hindsight probably turned out to be a bit of a blessing. It woke them up that they were "in a game".
After getting back to 2-1 at half-time, they conceded again not long after the resumption and were, Coates acknowledged, probably lucky not to go down 4-1 with Armidale City following that missing a penalty.
The win keeps them two points clear of South Armidale and Moore Creek at the top of the table.
Both also had wins on Saturday with the Mountain Goats thrashing Norths United 6-nil and the Scorpions edging out South United 3-2. The Lightning were brave in defeat, playing the last 30 minutes with only 10 players.
In the other games North Companions played out a 2-all draw with Demon Knights while East Armidale defeated Tamworth FC 2-nil.
